Our view: Dads are important

Posted: June 13, 2013 - 9:08pm

Many of us will celebrate Father’s Day this Sunday by providing our dads with varying interpretations of the “royal treatment.” Those of us who are grown and living apart from mom and dad might spring for a greeting card and hope it doesn’t arrive late. Maybe the greeting will contain a gift card to dad’s favorite restaurant chain or sporting goods store.

Children under the age of 12 will likely conspire with mom to do something nice for good ole dad. Maybe mom will cook dad’s favorite meal and the kids will promise dad to be on their best behavior throughout the entire day. In most cases, this promise will be difficult to keep. Older children will honor their dads in a variety of ways with efforts ranging from minimal to extreme. Some folks, including some dads, will anticipate the dawning of a new day, Monday, when things can get back to normal.

No matter how Father’s Day is or is not celebrated, its occurrence provides us with a good opportunity to understand what dads mean in our society. Although statistics can sometimes be misleading, we can also learn quite a bit from them.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, one in every three children in America lives in a family where the biological or adoptive father is not present. We think that is an astoundingly high number. What else do the statistics show?

About 12 percent of the kids living in a household headed by a married couple are living at or below the poverty level. Take away dad and that number increases to 44 percent.

Data available from the U.S. Department of Education show father involvement in schools is associated with the higher likelihood of a student getting mostly A’s. This was true for fathers in biological parent families, for stepfathers, and for fathers heading single-parent families.

A study conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that fatherless children are at a dramatically greater risk of drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness, suicide, poor educational performance, teen pregnancy and criminality.

A report published by the Progressive Policy Institute indicates the economic consequences of a father’s absence are often accompanied by psychological consequences, which include higher-than-average levels of youth suicide, low intellectual and education performance, and higher-than-average rates of mental illness, violence and drug use.

We could fill up this page with similar results from scores of other studies but the bottom line is clearly evident. Dads are pretty important guys when it comes to the rearing of children. The 20-year-old Sandy Hook killer’s dad moved out a few years before that tragic event occurred. The father of the Boston Marathon bombers, ill with cancer, returned home to Russia years before that tragedy unfolded. The presence of a father in a family unit doesn’t guarantee children will grow up to be model citizens. But history shows it to be a substantial influencing factor.

Those of us who are fortunate to have grown up with a dad present might want to think about something former North Carolina State coach, the late Jim Valvano, once said, “My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.”

So whether it’s a gift card or breakfast in bed for dad this Sunday, we’re sure of something else he might appreciate as much or more. Simply tell him, “thanks.” We’re pretty sure he’ll understand.